THE MONT: The Jim C. Interview

Some Delco Brand Sickness Before You Enjoy The Read,!

And Here Is Our New Weird EDIT BEFORE GETTING TO THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND, SUNDAY BIKES JIM C....

Jim Cielencki, does this man really need an introduction? If you have
been riding bikes since the nineties then you probably know Jim for
more than just his behind the scenes activities with his
groundbreaking bicycle company, Sunday Bikes. On a Kink Empire frame
that probably weighed more than your life Jim was taking street riding
to levels not yet touched or even attempted for years after
Mr.Cielencki managed to see what was actually possible on a twenty
inch. From crank arm grinds, to every single variation of pedal grind
possible if you were to name a part on your bicycle that you think you
can grind on chances are Jim already did it ten years ago. But from
his own progressive style of street and ramp riding Jim started up
Sunday Bikes and quickly made the brand into quite a behemoth of a
bike company. With a progressive mostly groundbreaking and very
important to mention creating a team of highly creative forces with a
lust to shred in ways most of us only dreamed of. So I got the green
light from Jim to ask some questions, so sit back grab some coffee and
enjoy this read.

1. Out of all of the cities that you and the Sunday team have visited,
which ranks highest in your book when it comes to making your team
happy, productive, and most importantly a city that you are also hyped
on to ride?

Well, I'm going to go with our most recent trip to Atlanta. We rented a house with a swimming pool which allowed everyone to hang out, but then if someone wanted some quiet time then they could just go to a room. When you stay at a hotel, the rooms are just so crammed and the group is usually split up so that no one really interacts once we are at the hotel. The house idea is so much better. The first night we got on the guest list for Lucero and later in the week we went to a Braves game where we saw one of the craziest games this season which included a grand slam. I lived out that way so I knew tons of spots of all different varieties, so there was something for everyone. This trip was a blast.

2. The Sunday team has always been full of very innovative minds since
day one, you had Vinnie Sammon, Mike Hoder, Joe Cox, Mike Taylor, and
Ian Schwartz for example were all team members at one point in time.
What makes a rider worthy to ride for your company, and what do you
think makes a bike rider stand out from the rest to make them an
individual worth representing Sunday?

The riders that I looked up to in the past were very innovative. I think I've tried to do the same with my riding. So, the riders that I want to represent Sunday should be innovative as well. To ride for Sunday, a rider should be innovative obviously, but being innovative is very broad. A rider could come up with new tricks or he could take current tricks to bigger rails. Say someone's web video is 2 minutes long. It should have a good amount of popular tricks to show skill. But at some point they have to do a trick or line that differentiates themselves. This could be a common trick put into a different spot, they went way faster than usual or they just had a whole new trick. This shows that they are thinking outside of what they see in web videos or in magazines. If you're recreating what you see in videos then you will always be following. Another huge factor is they have to have their own spots. Nothing gets me more excited when a rider has a spot that makes you say "where is this thing? I want to ride that!". Now mix in some new moves in new spots and you have a video part that will stand out and draw attention.

3. Who is the wildest member of the Sunday Bikes team at the moment?
Both on or off the bike.

Everyone is wild in their own ways. I do have a rule when the guys come to Austin. The rule is that they can go out and do whatever they want, but they can't go to Shakespeares. One mini pitcher will always lead to another one which then leads to the whole next day being ruined.

4. Are you guilty of ever riding a pair of the Kink El Guapo pegs when
you were on the Kink team? I know I was guilty of having a pair when I
was in ninth grade haha.

Nope, I can definitely say I never rode a pair of El Guapo pegs. We were on the first Kink shop tour in June 2000 when we first heard about them. Everyone was really confused why there were bigger pegs coming out. They also brought out a double seat clamp too. At that point, we were thinking we just wanted lighter frames because the Empire Rev B weighed just over 8 lbs. We had to go through the Fiend and Phantom Lord frames before we got something light. Kink was awesome, but that was a weird moment. I can remember cutting the double seat clamp in half to share with a friend. I once used an El Guapo peg to help me recover from a separated shoulder. Add some coins and some tape and you have a good weight for rehab.

5. What caused you to make your own bike company instead of sticking
with Kink or going to another company?

It's the usual situation. Like I said Kink was awesome, but you sort of run into limitations. After working with Odyssey on my pedals, it was just obvious that these guys knew what they were doing. They are super motivated, creative, have good intentions and are not afraid to be adventurous. They are able to provide insights and ideas from all different angles like road bikes, mtb bikes, airplanes and whatever. It felt like skies the limit when working with them. They have so many ideas that never came out or were just passed over because there was something better coming. It's still like that today. It's amazing.

6. Road Fools 7 sticks out in alot of peoples minds as being one of
the better RF trips riding wise, which trip did you have a better time
riding on Road Fools 7 or 9? I remember Van being super stoked on you
taking wild grinds down stairs on real street set ups in RF 7 which
always made me laugh as a teenager.

Looking back on it, I would have to say that I like Roadfools 7 better. Most of the cast were good friends and they knew each other very well. Their friendships go back beyond the start of Roadfools, so there was this great camaraderie among them. Then you throw in some new guys like myself, Jon Heaton, Joe Tiseo and Matt Beringer. After watching Roadfools for so many years then to go on one with a crew that was very representative of the early Roadfools and even Baco for that matter, it was quite an honor to be apart of that trip. It felt like I was let into a sort of brotherhood.

7. What brought about the idea of making 24 inch bicycles made to
handle street abuse? I'm sure alot of people are very stoked in the
bmx community to be able to bust a rail on a cruiser and not have to
worry about the bicycle exploding upon impact. Maybe even keeping some
of those thick headed I'm too old to ride street dudes still behind
their handlebars shredding instead of binge drinking.

I always explain the 24" bike like this. Say you learn a barspin air on a 4 ft mini. Next you take it to a 6 ft and then to an 8ft. You may also do it on a steeper ramp, a wedge or even just in a bunnyhop. Either way you took this trick you learned and did it in all sorts of different places. Now that you can do it in all these places then what is the next challenge? Why don't we just change the bike and do the trick at all the same spots, but just on this larger bike? When I ride the 24", I'm just doing tricks that I already know on a bike that I haven't done them on. They funny thing is the bike is so close to a 20" that it's not a huge difference.

8. How important is Sunday's relationship with Odyssey? I always view
and think of both companies (GSport as well) in the same light.
Quality and innovation seem to be more important than some corny
image. Few companies stand behind their products with as much pride
and conviction as Sunday was there any problems you encountered in the
past for you to make Sunday so easy to deal with warranty wise. I
personally know that you guys at Sunday/Odyssey have been nothing but
kind to my buddy Eddy Mena who sends you dudes the crazy custom weed
inspired boxes whenever he needs to send a part back due to his odd
shitluck.

Our relationship is very important. The reason why we stand behind our products so much is that we were all kids who were taken by some crappy BMX company from the 80's. None of us grew up with a lot of money, my paper route paid for all my BMX stuff. I was lucky to have it because my parents didn't pay for any of it. We design products that will last. I know the prices might be more, but you will have it for a lot longer than the cheaper knockoff. If it doesn't last then we will figure a way to get you riding again.

9. What are some of your favorite eateries in the Austin Texas area?
I'm a huge Wahoo's fan, but you can't go wrong with Chuy's or Veggie
Heaven in my opinion.

Austin has plenty of options for really great food. I like Curra's on Oltorf for interior Mexican, Mighty Dog for the Angry Bird and Bouldin Creek Cafe for vegetarian food. The best cupcakes are at Sugar Mama's. Then there are food trucks. Halal Bros for falafel, Vegan Yacht, Mighty Cone for their fried avocado, Via 313 for Detroit pizza, Hot Dog King, Frank, the Mac N Cheese truck and the Italian Sandwich place on 5th near Whole Foods. There really is too many good options and I know I'm missing some.

10. What are your plans for Sunday Bikes for the rest of the year, and
what does the future hold for Jim Cielencki?

Keep pushing and coming out with different stuff. The best thing about this is that doing Sunday is very creative. There's lots of learning and creating which is why I do it. If it was only about selling things and making money then I would probably move on.

11. I grew up watching you kill it in older Props issues, and in the
pages of magazines. What bike riders either on your team or just
dudes/ladies who you love watching shred these days?

The whole Sunday team is amazing. The riders now have a different mindset and can see new lines and moves that I don't see. Usually their lines scare me. Guys like Eric Lichtenberger, Garrett Reeves and Alex Magallan have this really unique way of seeing spots. It's not necessarily about the tricks, but about here's this to this to this. I can't really question it because what I think is scary isn't that scary to them. We come from different points of time in riding. I do have to say that riders today are so so good. The skill that everyone has is incredible. There is a bit of wish that I was 15 years younger, so I could be pushing it like these guys, but now I just sit back and enjoy all the videos that come out.

12. What do you think makes riding a handrail so timeless?

My guess would be that riding a handrail would be a foreign idea to the original inventors of bicycles. Go back 100 years and try to explain that people would grind and ride down a handrail. It would never be expected. You could see riding a pool or a bank because you are still on 2 wheels, but handrails generally are just done on the pegs or pedals. This would never be thought of back when. I really have no idea why it's timeless.

13. An empty kidney pool, or a fullpipe with a completely rideable
elbow and morning glory spillway?

This is a very difficult question. Fullpipes fullfill the magazine reading kid in me. There is nothing better then alley ooping a carve in a fullpipe especially when you have no pegs on. You go weightless and almost drag your bike and body across the pipe. Your body and bike take the shape of the pipe as well. A kidney pool has more lines in it though. There would be more tricks to do as well. I'm going to say fullpipe on this one. Looking good and keeping your speed up is way better than doing any tricks. I could ride Mt Baldy for hours.

14. Top five favorite BMX or Skate videos?

In no particular order

Baco 6 - I bought this straight from Chad Degroot and watched this over and over. You could tell everyone in the video were friends and that they rode all different types of styles.
Thrill of it All- Zero It was almost too cheesy at one point, but the music and skating kill it. This is my guilty pleasure.
Eastern Exposure 3 - East coast skating at it's best. Ricky Oyola influenced my attitude towards spots.
Dorkin' videos - I grew up riding everything including flatland. Kevin Jones and the Plywood Hoods were so progressive and that was a huge influence to my outlook on tricks and what was possible. Every video they had something new and I feel I've tried to do the same thing with my parts.
Props Euroscene - I loved the feel of this video. The idea of traveling through Europe exploring and riding was what I dreamed of in the early 2000's. Definitely have had the chance to do this myself which I am very grateful for.

15. If you have a piece of advice for the BMX youth today what would it be?

Be creative, do your own thing, don't be afraid to stand out and listen to your doctor. The line "Pain is temporary and glory is forever" switches to "Pain is forever and glory is temporary" as you get older. Hope that doesn't come out too negative. Haha